sunset over Tonapah!

a location re-visited

OK I’m a tad bit disappointed, I know things change but you want them to change for the better not the worse. I went so far as to go into the Tombstone Visitors Center and give them a piece of my mind as to what they have done to this sweet little town. They were quite interested in the fact that we got married here some 37 years ago and asked a lot of questions. Think they were just appeasing me, but so what.

The nice folks in the visitors center did tell us of a lady by the name of Lorraine who had a small eatery and that was born in Tombstone. Well we went and met Lorraine and her brother Tom who own this little coffee shop kinda place. They remembered just what we both did some 37 years ago. We had the name of a certain Saloon wrong but we knew where it was. Anyhow it was good to talk with folks that agreed with our assumptions.

Miss Lorraine did say that they just recovered from Wyatt Earp Days that was held over the long Memorial Day weekend. And in the Fall is Helldorado Days. She said people come from all over the world to see the historic Tombstone.

I made the mistake of telling a friend about the movie Tombstone with Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer and that hunky Sam Elliot. Now I had no idea that it was rated R and her son couldn't watch it. I honestly think that it was because of the violence, may R because of the huge inaccuracies, cause there were a bunch. But it was still good.

The photos we took of Tombstone area years ago are packed away in storage so I have nothing to show you. But now it is touristy and junked up with t-shirt shops and trinkets. Sorta picture a small Key West that's dusty.

The above photo is of the Crystal Palace Saloon...which was also the Golden Eagle Brewery built in 1879. What better place for us to have a marriage reception in a former brewery. The inside of the Crystal Palace is gorgeous with it's heavy mahogony wood bar and back bar that runs the whole.

It was nice to go back it really was. We are headed to Lake Havasu city to get a big ass fuel tank attached to Big Ass Louie.....stay tuna'd

roadside vision....

We’re still here…

Not a lot of connectivity in the Western part of Texas. Just a long road to go thru Texas. First out of San Antinio is the beautiful Hill Country. Then a bit of stretch of the uglies.. We are traveling Interstate 10 so it is taking us way south. Most of this area we have never been thru. with the exception of I10 thru El Paso. Made that trek when we moved to Connecticut, that trip could be another ten blogs.

So we have gone from on over nite stop at the Comanche Land RV Park. Now don’t let the name RV Park fool ya cause it wasn’t. However it did have hook-ups, electric, water and cable, all for a whopping 10$. We couldn’t run our generator all nite for 10 bucks what with the cost of gas.. Remember it was just west of Ft Stockton, which equals West of NOWHERE!!!

Sunday was in the lovely area of Las Cruces, New Mexico RV park was the Hacienda Resort.

View from our patio

Cute little old lady walking her puppy who looks just like her

Followed the suggestion of the RV park manager on dinner spot and boy are we glad we did. Allende something or other was a true Mexican style restaurant and damn good. I had a soft pork taco plate which consisted of the best pork, chopped onion, cilantro, and plenty of lime.

Also included was a small cup of beans in a wonderful sauce. Husband ordered the green chile verde plate, which consuisted of a taquito/flauta, a cheesey enchilada, green chile verde that was to die for in arich sauce. And a very large chile relleno that husband found a bit spicy to his liking, however I didn’t so we traded. The batter on the relleno was light and fluffy and yes a bit spicy, but oh so good.

Landing in Tucson shortly. We will be motoring down to Tombstone, which is the scene of the crime some 37 years ago...........so definitely stay tuna'd

It is Memorial Day isn't it?

After we landed in Las Crusces, NM on Sunday we popped a beer and settled down to watch the end of the race, Indy 500. Sorry the three ladies didn’t fair as well as I hoped. But they did make history. Nice to see cutie Dario Franchitti win…congrats to him.

Anyway once that was over we were flipping around and came upon a PBS program about WW II Veterans and what they went thru. Seems as though the host had followed these five men for many years and kept tabs on them. Very un-assuming men that made a huge, I mean huge contribution to the United States and their fellow countrymen.

My Father was a veteran of World War II. He was a SeaBee in the Navy. Hunky husband was in the Air Force during Vietnam as was my dear darling brother-in-law. BIL father was in World War II….so a special thank you to these four men,

Daddy, Mr Doodles, Mr D and Grandpa C……thank you!!!

greetings from San Antonio

San Antonio……beautiful……..RV park right on the river! Enjoying the river walk area and headed to see the Alamo and the San Antonio Missions of San Jose. Also looking forward to some good Tex-Mex food. I see a couple of dinning reviews in the future for PBE

It rained quite hard yesterday and thru the nite....which I thought would slow our touristy events down today. But there are some brighter moments ahead around noon so no biggie.

Well we sure did luck out with the weather Gods – thank you very much. Did the whole River Walk walking as well as the Alamo. Which as Mr Doodles says “ it sure is a lot better than it was 40 years ago.” Very well done and the tour was great.

Ate at a cute little Mexican eatery called Casa Orio…I’ll do a brief review over on PBE after I get over my 40 ounce margarita…YUM!

Found it very interesting walking around the Downtown area of San Antonio where the River Walk and the Alamo are located, there are a lot of information folks dressed in uniform asking you do you need directions, or any help? That is very nice. Also saw a lot of people, city workers I’m sure, with brooms sweeping the sidewalk and picking up any trash….quite impressive.

OK headed to West Texas today and we are gonna see how far we can get hopefully 300 + miles and that would be around Ft Stockton. Certainly not a booming metropolis but that much closer to the Pacific time zone.

I put some photos up of My Flickr if ya wanna go peak.

Remember the Alamo

Beautiful San Jose Mission

simple observations

First off - very special Birthday wishes to my beautiful Niece.
We will certainly celebrate when we are all together...........

Happy Birthday

My Sweet lil bird!!!

It’s interesting traveling the highways of the US…you notice funny things like the cleanliness of rest areas. So far Mississippi gets the highest grade. The MS rest area was also an information center, built to look like an old southern mansion. Had very friendly folks inside handing out cold drinks, if wanted, and in return they wanted to know how many in you group and where you are from. That stumped me cause I didn’t know what to tell them, for the time being I’ll say Florida.

Cruising down the highways you become aware of drivers and the lack of courtesy. I’m talking about 4 wheelers now. Drivers seem to have an oblivious attitude to anyone else on the road and of course many of them are talking on their damn cell phones going 80 mph while entering the highway…amazing. So do me a favor next time you see an 18 wheeler or a truck pulling a fifth wheel trailer be more aware and get your ass over and make room.

Oh one more thing there seems to be a big push in the states that we have gone thru on seatbelt safety….click OR ticket they are say. Please don’t tell me you drive without your seatbelt buckled up…stay tuna’d

Louisiana roads SUCK!!

but other than that things are going along quite well.

Left Biloxi yesterday a.m. after touring around the Gulfport/Biloxi area. No I didn't win any money but I didn't lose any either, so came away OK.
Mr Doodles was stationed in Biloxi while in the Air Force, well that was a bajillion years ago, and obviously things have changed quite a bit since his eleven month stay here. But he did say that there were some gorgeous olde mansion on the gulf road, over looking the gulf. They are all gone, as are all the businesses along that boulevard.

We did go into a casino, the Beau Rivage, my they did a wonderful job getting that back up and running. It's as nice as any smaller casino in Vegas. Anyway.........we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Majestic Oaks RV Resort. Lovely people that own it, would recommend it highly. with lovely gardenia bushes outside our RV door next to the patio area designated for each RV.

The photo below is for my seester ;)

If ya get a chance though write to your congressional dope and tell him to please alot some $ to Louisiana. They are spending all their money on Katrina re-build and ignoring the interstates.

San Antonio...........next stop...stay tuna'd

spose this is one of the reasons gas prices are so high - Shell Oil has not spent one thin dime for the folks in this area...so if y'all are buying Shell gas remember where they are not putting their $$$









this is a lovely resort on Bilox Bay or I should say was a resort.














Picture this was a very lively drive-thru on the luscious white sand beach of Biloxi Bay.

three states in two days...

and Mr Doodles is driving, how cool is that!

Here we are in beautiful Biloxi, Mississippi. We both waved good-bye to Florida, when we crossed into Alabama. There happens to be a couple of casinos in Biloxi, so think I just might go see if I can try my luck and win some $$$ for fuel.

It has been great to hear from all of you….while still in the Panhandle, the air card for internet connection was quite slow so I didn’t get to get on. I am sure that will happen more often than not when in remote areas.

BTW Buddy is a great trailer cat…he has adjusted quite well.

OK more when we get a bit further on down the road……..stay tuna’d!!!

ps.......holy crap Mr Doodles just came it to invite me out to our lovely patio area and join him in a Corona. He is showing off because he put the awning out by himself. Remind me to tell y'all bout the first time we tackled the awning. It might just appear on funniest home videos...no kidding.

and they are off

At approximately 10 a.m. EST....May 17...the adventure has begun.......

Won't be checking email for a bit so if needed we are on the cell#

Wish us luck.....stay tuna'd

Okey Dokey...

Well it's raining...I never thought I would be happy to say that but happy we are. The interstate highways are open off and on.....sooooo, we are gonna do a couple a dry runs with Grace and Louie on Wednesday. And then if all goes well, and we foresee no problems we will head out on Thursday for our travels West.

Not only were we stranded because of fires and road closures, we are both stinkin sick with sinus infections and bronchitis. Oh and I am to have limited speaking for a few day....hahahaha. Just came from the Drs. both of us and are on 10 days of augmentum and some quite tasty cough medicine that is great with a tequilla chaser.

So thanks for all the phone calls and emails - much appreciated ya know.

Hot DAMN!!! stay tuna'd..........

please standby...........

So when they say that over 200 fires are burning in 57 of 67 counties in the State of Florida........doesn't look like we be leaving anytime before Wednesday or even later.

Waiting to inhale

If this wasn't so tragic for the State of Florida because of ALL the vegetation and wildlife that will be lost.........I could turn the last few weeks into a sitcom, I know FOX would buy it.

Yep we are/were affected by smoke and wind. We were going to try to get outta here Saturday........maybe Sunday but looks more like Monday.
Y'all are just getting tired of hearing about our impending departure I spose. Well pray for rain and we can get on with it. The fire fighters do not need people of the roads clogging things up. Around our area it was so bad they closed the roads cause there were so many accidents. FHP went so far as to call the Governor who said close em...that's probably what they will do to some portions of 75 North of us if in fact they haven't done that already.
Yesterday I had to drive thru some smoke and at a distance you could see the shooting flames. Makes hurricane damage pale in comparison I do believe. Smoke has been horrific.

Guess this is the blue tarp saying a fond farewell to us. They really didn't have to go to all this trouble. Gosh I just heard on the news that there are only 220 ground fires here in the state eeeekkk!!! Only good thing is no loss of life and very few structures. But the firefighters are really having a hard time of it. Who would wanna build thousands of feet of a fire barrier in this heat and humidity. Then get the derned things just barely contained, nite time comes, the winds whip up and there they are back at it again even bigger in some places.
Stay tuna'd ... because we do have every good intention of becoming Nomads!

the dopes are everywhere......

Lordy, lordy what are we gonna do? We got the Texan in office being a dope along with all his other co-horts - now they are importing dopes to run for the present spot.

I sent each and every one of them an email saying could ya just concentrate on the development of wind energy and alternatives and don't be doing your drilling offshore.


We can't let them do this can we ??? Here's another one

A quick update...

For those interested = we have been on delay an/or hold for a couple of days. The fires here in our charred state have kept us from completing the tasks of wiring the RV. It was so blasted smokey you could not see 20 ft. in front of you. And breathing that gunk is even worse. Even Buddy, the cat, was bothered by the smell. Mr. Doodles feels like crap and has a horrible cough, and because of that not sleeping well. But he persists on his scheduled tasks, albeit a tad behind schedule.

The problem with these fires is what it is burning, singed maleluca trees are quite very bad for breathing and that is the primary here in our area. Happy to say no homes have been devasted by this latest in our area. Now I can't say that about every one of the 220 +/- ground fires burning in the state of Florida.

So it seems that we are not leaving on the scheduled Thursday or Friday BUT Saturday or Sunday is looking pretty good.

Now want something to cheer ya up? Go look at my sisters latest art work

stay tuna'd.....

Wedded bliss

So the coupling of Grace, the RV and Louie, the truck was consumated today at 10:30 a.m. est. The happy couple were rather glistening in the morning sun, as it rained like hell last nite. But they fit together just like a PBJ sandwich.

So now we start loading and wiring, and futzin as only Norm knows how to do. Only problem that we see at this very moment is they forgot to wire the satellite hook-up for the bedroom TV. The living room was completed, but it appears the sales dope let another item slip thru the cracks. I see a letter written to him in the future. But right now we are concentrating on getting outta here.

See those Nike kinda woosh deals on the side of the RV, those are decals, and we are going to change the colors of them to coordinate a bit better. Blue is not the choice color for our taste and it would appear to make it more of a custom look. And no I have not started painting inside yet. Don't think I will untill we live in it for a year and see how it all grows on me. Y'all know Norm doesn't care as long as it's clean and comfy.

My sweet seester wrote in her blog about our impending departure headed West. And I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am that we are going to be closer in miles than we have been in God knows how long. And throw in the added bonus of my brother-out-law, my sweet niece and her hunky bunky, and my Dad's wife who I love to bits and not to mention the three pups.......wonder if they realize that Cousin Buddy, the cat is included in this package. Well we just will never allow them to co-mingle.

So look for the Gypsy Caravan at an RV park near you cause ya never know where we are gonna turn up......stay tuna'd

The truck that draws a crowd

I am not kidding! Here is a brief explanation of our day yesterday. I will leave out all the curse words and ill feelings we had, but you will get the picture.

We drive up yesterday to pickup the RV and trailer land about 100 miles north of us. Now as a side note we ordered and PAID FOR this RV two months ago. It took two months for the blasted truck to get here...see other blogs on that subject. Anyhow, this is the grand day to couple Louie, the truck with Grace the RV. And ya know we are excited and apprehensive from the get go, it's normal.

The place we purchased the RV from is very well known and has ectremely highly rated customer service. We did our homework before purchasing this RV.

So we get there and the plan is for the service dudes to install the RV hitch in the bed of the truck. That went with out a hitch ... HAR!!! And while that was happening we were to get our meet and greet with folks we will probably never see again, and then get a walk-thru in the RV. Walk-thru meaning a thorough education on how to handle and take care of this RV, we now call Grace, that is going to take several hours. We had the very best fellow to do this, knowledgable, answered all our questions and to make it even better he is a huge drag racing fan.

So now it's 8:30 am and we are delivering Louie, the truck, to the service department dudes to do the hitch install, we pull into the bay, get out and there are at least ten service techs standing there drooling. A couple of them applauded when we got out. I thought this is one hell of a welcoming committee! NOT they were all there to see this damn truck.

Now jump to late that day. we are on our way the hundred miles home without said RV, Grace, and I ask husband to pull into the rest area so I could make a pit stop. As I am getting out of the truck I look up and here comes a Ford Explorer, the exact same color as Louie, the copper. The guy saw us on the freeway and wanted to see the truck, he is a truck nut and had read about this new engine and wanted to see it.
I ghot out of the truck and started laughing, husband had no idea what was going on. I said look honey our Louie looks like he had a baby !

So suffice to say, if in fact this happens while we are traveling, look for us in your area a few days later than originally planned...............stay tuna'd !!!

Oh and I will more than likely write about the Grace issue of yesterday, however the blood pressure needs to subside a bit.

As promised.........

Here's Louie...........is he just the cutest little thing you have ever seen.

21 ft long, 6 wheels, eats diesel and we are well on our way.

stay tuna'd..........

ta da.........

Louie Louie, oh no
Me gotta go
Aye-yi-yi-yi, I said
Louie Louie, oh baby
Me gotta go

Those are the words to Louie, Louie by the Kingsmen........actually those are just some of the words........the rest of them are all in question. It's funny the conflict that encircles this odd song.

So let me cut to the chase..........the truck is here and we are on our way to get the little guy, well Big A** truck that we now have named Louie.

So stay tuna'd cause I got a ton to tell y'all...............

Let's take it on outa here now
Let's go!!

Must we Endure???

OK, please raise you hand if you are as tired as I am when hearing about the present Bush Administration what they knew and when they knew it. These people are crazy!!
Someone drank the kool aid and passed the pitcher to the rest of the dopes. I think I know who it was, but gads!

Let me say this === George Tenet WE ALREADY KNEW what you have written about in your tell all book. You, my sleazy dope, are just gonna make money on that book Why don't you be a big person and donate that money you will make to all the children of service men and women who died in the horrific war. The money could be used for school scholarships.

Theses people are despicable! DOPE = a stupid or unresponsive person

I must say I was going to write something on pet peeves and the funny sites out there about pet peeves....and maybe you could share your pet peeves. But lordy, lordy this subject must be one of my biggest pet peeves....stay tuna'd

My funny Buddy..........

So here's our crazy whacked out cat, Buddy attending to his favorite pastime, he is drinking out of the faucet in the tub....I know don't ask... the cat loves water and loves to play in water. You turn the water on, he jumps in the tub splashes in the water a bit then tries to catch the last drips outta the faucet. I have no idea what we are going to do in the RV cause there is only a shower. And we haven't told Buddy yet, so there could be a revolt on the part of the cat...stay tuna'd!

ps...thanks seester moon for publishing the youtube!

Earth Day

I really should have posted this yesterday however due to an invasion of sinus pain and such I could barely see, let alone use the computer.

Do yourself a favor and sign up for this service......GREEN DIMES it is NOT costly at all. And so very worthwhile. And you would be doing the future generations of this world a big, big favor.

Moon and lil bird don't sign up cause you already have!

While searching for fabric softener that was fragrance free I came upon this site that you might find useful.......a green guide

I interupt your regular viewing...

to bring you this message.

Steve Capus is an ignorant fool and inspite of how much I like Brian Williams, he is in the same sinking boat with Capus.

Good God gentlem what were you thinking didn't you think for just one second, one second that it was WRONG to give this person a stage? Didn't you think to consult, for one minute, with Tom Brokaw!

Now I will say that I wasn't real happy bout your greedy, yes greedy decision to fire Don Imus. You caved to the advertisers in a big way. Mr Capus what are you going to tell the advertisers now? I am angry and won't be watching a lot of NBC news because of your errors. Splain that to the big boys Steve.

Oh and I would hope you would publicly apologize to the community of VTU.

A friend recently posted in her blog, a link that I would like to share - read this

Mr Capus, Mr Williams see ya at the races..................stay tuna'd!

Cutbacks ... Ouch!

Due to recent cutbacks at the Sarasota Herald Tribune, David Grimes, a columnist for the paper had this column in todays edition. But after reading the very funnypiece I thought of a few things.

1. I used to work for a newspaper and I'm sure they too are going thru some difficulties....must get in touch with my favorite editor.

2. Reading a column without vowels would be good exercise for the brain I think, refer back to my blog on Spa's for the Brain

3. And last but certainly not least David Grimes is a funny guy and quite persuasive to get this by his editors....way to go! Thanks for the laugh Mr. Grimes.

I now know that while we are traveling I will be sure to check in with Mr Grimes and see if he was able to add any vowels..........stay tuna'd

Proverbs

I love reading proverbs and their meanings.........I came across this African Proverb the other day and thought to fitting for the recent tragedy. Not all proverbs are serious some African Proverbs are quite funny and literal.

But this is up there with being an all time favorite ...

"However long the night,

the dawn will break"

Say it isn't so PLEASE

I don't know about your area or even your Country, BUT, this Country survives on volunteers and their many, many efforts.

When I read that volunteerism is dwindling I was very sad. But after reading this article I realized that it isn't quite as bad as the headline states, which is usually the case. Headlines are created by adventerous, aggravating editors, but if it leads us to the story the Editor accomplished what he set out to do.

We come from a long line of volunteers. I honestly cannot remember when I didn't volunteer to do something or belong to a non profit group. My Uncle in Indiana, before he passed, he was a volunteer Grandpa, how cool is that. My Aunt is a literacy volunteer, my sweet sister just received her five year pin being a docent at the gorgeous Getty Center in Los Angeles. I know my talented and beautiful niece volunteers a lot, how she has the time given her busy schedule, but she does.

If you have never volunteered and have the time to do so, please think about doing something ::: I am telling you it is a very fulfilling thing to do. Gads I'm beginning to sound like Oprah, not meant to.

A couple of ideas.........if there a Habitat office in your area. They need volunteers of all sorts from swinging a hammer to being a cashier. I did a recent fun thing, I read to a group of kindergarten children at the Library. That was fun reading a short story to a bunch of wiggle worms.

So think about your time, could you manage it better? This is not to say neglect others around you or yourself. But I guaran...damn...tee you you will truly get something from your time.

A christening of sorts

Well outta no where, a name has come to me for the new truck.......Louie, short for Louisville where he was born. Ford has a truck assembly plant there and it is on Fern Valley Road. Didn't think Fern was a good name for a truck.

He will be an Aries and the RV will be a Pisces must go see if that is a good match. Yep the RV will definitely be called Grace. And not for the reasons that those of you who know me think! The RV is manufactured by Monaco, and I think of Princess Grace whenever I hear the name Monaco.

So there ya go....seriously, anything that is couple together for an eternity must be named, and I know y'all think I'm nuts but it's just my grand entrance to feebledom.

Get the walkers ready lil bird.........stay tuna'd........ah yes for the coming adventures of Grace, Louie, Buddy the cat and Doodles and Mr Doodles.

Oh wow look what I found..........

Aries & Pisces

When Aries and Pisces come together in a love match, they can be very good for one another. Aries is a strong Sign; they are almost completely prey to their impulses, which they follow without a second thought to the outcome or possible consequences. Dreamy Pisces is much quieter and more internally-focused; they're the Poets of the Zodiac. On the surface an Aries and a Pisces may seem an unlikely pair, but when there's love involved, they can truly fulfill one another's needs. Pisces is very intuitive, both as a person and as a lover; Aries must take care to return this favor so Pisces won't begin to see their Aries partner as stingy and selfish.

What's the best aspect of the Aries-Pisces relationship? They really have a lot to learn from each other. Pisces shows Aries how to empathize and care; Aries teaches Pisces how to make dreams happen rather than just thinking about it! Theirs is a truly reciprocal relationship.

I must voice my opinion...

In recent days there has been a lot on the internet as well as on the national news, even NPR, about Don Imus and his inappropriate comments regarding the Rutgers ladies basketball team.
Yes I whole heartedly agree it was uncalled for, rude, horribly degrading. I'm ashamed that anyone would say anything like that. It is one of the reasons I don't watch anything on BET TV or listen to RAP music. The lyrics are horribly degrading.
So back to Don Imus, I can honestly tell you in my heart the man is not a racist, he's an insensitive jerk, but I don't think he's a racists.
I think MSNBC and CBS has missed an opportunity to educate instead of denegrate. They shouldn't have fired Imus, he could educate. We all know that his firing has been brought down to toal greed. MSNBC would lose advertisers, now get this, many of the very same advertisers that sponsors the IMUS cattle Ranch for Kids with Cancer. Would you please explain the reasoning behind this. I must be really dense here folks.
Every year Imus has a two day radiothon that MSNBC did cover. The event was to raise money as they do every year for Radiothon to benefit the Tomorrows Children’s Fund, the CJ Foundation for SIDS and the Imus Ranch for Kids with Cancer. I hope this does not injure the ability to garner much needed $$$.
I will donate by going to the radiothon website.

For some of you that may not know about this or care to read about this is just one of the many articles on the internet regarding this mess.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/04/11/imus.rutgers/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

Just ask and ye shall receive

Well hell I called Mr Ford about our truck and he said "relax babe it will be there on the 23rd of April or sooner". Needles to say being the impatient BITCH I am I chose the sooner part. We have things to do people to see along the way to the West coast and a cat to train to live in an RV. Oh this should be fun!

Speaking of cats, we must decided where to put Cousin Buddy's litter box. We think we came up with a great idea but we won't know till we can get back in the trailer and measure, you know Norm - measure six times cut once.

So here I am gathering all the info to do many change of addresses. Did you know that you must change your phone number as well because many companies relate to the phone you call in on for inquiries.

When said RV and TRUCK (the two will also be named at the ceremony) do come together it is a marriage of sorts and Doodles and Mr Doodles will celebrate that anniversary every year just like we do our anniversary.

I'll send out announcements but please NO GIFTS........stay tuna'd

I'm calling Mr Ford about our truck

I open the paper this a.m. and what do I see, above the fold, WORSENING DROUGHT HAS AREA ON EDGE, and EXPERTS SEE ACTIVE HURRICANE SEASON FOR THIS REGION.

Then below the fold is......... Pollen count hits an all time high in area........WTH!!!

Now granted hurricane season does not start till June 1st and is rarely active until August or September. And trust me we will be way long gone by then. But the pollen and the fires are just as scary, cause the pollen keeps me from doing my walking and the fires keep popping up and causing even more air pollution and danger to all in the path of losing there property.

I was in Ft Myers yesterday and saw two brush fires on the side of the freeway. One of them did errupt into something more serious enough to close the highway, after I was already past, thank you very much.

Truck is supposed to arrive on April 23rd...stay tuna'd!

Now my cats angry ~ really angry

So now we read and hear on the news that they are recalling cat treats. It was hard enough to get my cat to eat treats as a reward. Buddy as previously mentioned has always eaten dry food and in some ways I am very grateful for his finicky taste.

So now with this dog and cat food scare they have an alert out for soft treats made by Del Monte and others read here on SNOPES.

And Buddy the cat is now really pissed cause he has gotten used to his treats and we had to dispose of them. What's next ... my GOD the world is falling apart, Global Warming, now this........is their no end to the madness.

As I type Buddy is writing a customer service letter to Del Monte, actually honey husband is helping Buddy compose said letter..........stay tuna'd

ps........if this becomes a problem and those DOPES in Washington think they might want to get on the bandwagon be afraid and start cooking for your pets.

Concerned over pet food

I don't know about you but every blasted time I see a news alert regarding another contamination of pet food, my stomach gets in a knot. I know that we are very vigilent and careful. But my cat Buddy, is almost 12 and his cousin Buddy the dog is almost 12 and they have two baby cousins Max and Multy, not babies just a lot younger.
I am tempted to start feeding my sweet cat hamburger and rice, But he has never ever eaten wet food, just doesn't appeal to him. And Iams, the brand we use in the dry food, has come out to say that wheat gluten is not used in any of their dry food. I am grateful that the pet food industry on a whole has kept the public informed. You certainly cannot say that for the USDA.

So if you have an animal stay in touch with the situation by going to the PetSmart home page or the home page of the kind of pet food you use.

Neurobics Spa

not quite what I'm used to in the true definition of spa's. However neurobics could be our new best friend.

Don't go looking up the word neurobic cause it is not in the dictionary not even on wikipedia, which surprises me cause wikipedia has information they just make up. I digress...sorry.

There was a lengthy article in our paper yesterday regarding neurobics. I see that the article on line has been cut down. But you probably already have realized that when you put the word SPA on anything there is mucho dineros involved. And little did I know we have Neurobics Spas in my own backyard.

I have always known that exercising your brain, which is really what neurobics is, I have always known that it was good for you. Probably won't prevent anything but it just might delay the onset of old age dimentia. Now that is something I'm not about to get. Hunky husband and I do things while we are driving to do brain exercise, especially when you are on a long stretch of boring road. And I have a feeling that we may just run into that once we are on the road.

I must remember to tell my sweet bunky that I have been saving tons of $$$ by playing games as I do and not toddling off to the spa, neurobics that is. And here my sister gave up games for Lent last year - holy cow I hope her mind didn't atraphy during that period. I must challenge her to some games to see. Maybe we could treat each other to a day at the SPA.....stay tuna'd.

Go BRUINS!!!

The Stork came to visit us...

No it's not what you think.....but these are pictures of a stork. We have never ever seen one around here as I would think I would remember this bird with the funny thing on his head. Kinda looks like he is wearing headphones.

Not only the neighbors are coming over to say good bye to Mr & Mrs Doodles, the Stork stopped by to see us and Buddy. You can kinda see Buddy in the one photo of him staring at the bird. This guy was rather tame but when he heard my camera click he was a tad skitterish. He probably was on the patio for a good ten minutes.



Storks are relatively common along the West Coast near Tampa.

You may see them near the road or wading in ponds along with Ibis and Egrets

reference: http://www.sno-bird.com/fla_bird.htm

A lot to think about...

Getting ready to be the wanderlust, vagabond, and/or gypsy that we are going to be doing. It seems there is a lot to do before one takes to the road.

Seems we need Big A** insurance for the Big A** truck. It is not considered a regular passenger vehicle, it is in the commercial department. So we have a quote out to three different companies and yes seester dear, one of them is SF.
We have captured a wonderful deal for the RV insurance but unfortunately because of the class of the truck that company does not underwrite needed insurance.

I have also spent the day, while waiting on hold, making a budget in excel for travel expenses. Also a much needed to do list for what is required when we park and then one for when we leave. It's not quite like locking the door and pulling off down the highway.

Then we have the good fortune of having friends that are seasoned RV'rs that have given us a list of what is needed in terms of yep a broom, particular kind of jack and all the other junk we need to drag along. See why I have to limit my shoe collection but then this edict is coming from a man that has two pair of shoes, sneaks and sandals.

This is going to be fun but with much preparation to attend to. Once the truck and trailer marry, so to speak, it will take a day, at least just to hook up the electronics and for me to move in the household items.

So we are still looking at mid April to get outta here.........stay tuna'd!

Good Luck to the UCLA Bruins moving on to the Final Four!!!

Another Happy Dance !!!

Gotta love those UCLA Bruins!!!

They are going to the Final Four!!!

That's Norm and I doing

the Happy Dance ! ! !

We are no longer home owners in the

State of Florida.....let the adventure begin!

please............... stay tuna'd

Good Luck to the Bruins tonite !!!

Oh the joys of spring!

Spring is here, the weather has turned lovely, well except for the heavy pollen in the air. This could be a great time to load up a 5th wheel and a big a** truck and hit the road.

And we have just one more sleep!!! Oh lordy now I am getting really excited and antsy.

Go Bruins!!! they play thursday......that could be a very lucky day lil bird!!!

stay tuna'd.........

No escaping the many demons of Florida !

And here I thought we would be safe because we were going to boogie outta here before the start of hurricane season. Crap I forgot about the dreaded Love Bugs!!!

If you care, read about the dreaded infestation of the LOVE BUGS . What is the reasoning behind the name love bug when they are so detrimental.

Read that article while I go out and spray the front of our vehicles with PAM It seems that PAM keeps the little darlins from sticking to the front of the car. Think I'll leave a can of PAM in the cupboard for the new owner.

Now if we can get outta here before the mating season of the Florida alligator

Three more sleeps....................stay tuna'd

Just a few more

We are now down to 4 count em 4 more sleeps! Gads talk about wishing your life away. But that's OK that only means I will be closer to headed West and spend time, valuable quality time with my family and my hunky husband will be there too.

When we had our business there were very few vacations and certainly not many together trips West to visit family. When we retired, for good, one of the things we did first off was schedule a trip with sister and sweet brother in-law. We met in Vegas and traveled the Four Corners. What a wonderful time we had. The sites we saw and the laughs we had. Hope there is another trip with those two in the near future - we travel well together. And ya know ya can't always say that about traveling with relatives or friends.

Keep hoping our truck arrives quickly. The latest ETA would be the beginning of April. You need that truck to pull that RV. So we could still be out of here by mid April......stay tuna'd

GO BRUINS ! ! !

One down!

When you enter into the March Madness of basketball, take nothing for granted. UCLA beat Weber in their opening game 70 ~ 42.



Trust me those Hoosiers will not be a walk in the park when they play Saturday.

GO BRUINS!!!

Bruins Basketball!!!

First game of the March Madness Tournament is always nerve racking.

Bruins can go all the way this year - however I am keeping my fingers crossed to be on the safe side.

Cause I have a BIG bet on this tournament with a Hoosier!

Go Bruins!!!

We all know better BUT...

we aren't all good at changing our eating habits, at least I'm not and I know several friends that aren't either.

Many of you know I contribute to a food blog called Peanut Butter Etouffee, along with my sister Moon and my niece lil bird. When you food blog you have the opportunity to meet and read a lot of other fellow food bloggers, exchange recipes and comments. One of my favorite food blogs is Lucullian Delights. The writer lives in Italy and has some of the best food photos on the internet. But don't get me wrong Ilva also has some wonderful food recipes. And she has partnered up with another food blogger to create a site called

The Heart of the Matter - eating for life .

The following is quoted text from this new event:

Joanna from Joanna's Food who has experienced how it is living and cooking after a heart attack of her husband, her blog is full of recipes of heart friendly food. We plan to make this a monthly event with different themes each time and after the roundups on our blogs, these roundups are going to be posted on a special blog named after this event, The Heart of the Matter-eating for life, because this is an event with a difference, it's made with the hope of building up a recipe base that will be useful for all of us when we want to cook healthy meals so every time you participate you are not only presenting us with a nice recipe, you are also doing a good deed.

So, the reason I am mentioning all of this is that since hunky husband and I are going out on the road and doing a lot of traveling I was somewhat concerned about the spreading of our butts. Now yes we will be doing a lot of hiking and walking, however what I did not want to get into the habit of nipping in to a fast food joint for a quick meal = bad idea = butt spreading food.

So Ilva & Joanna have come up with this idea and I applaud this and definitely plan to participate. I hope you go check out the web site, who knows maybe you get an idea or two and maybe even contribute.

FYI~~~~~~~~~~~8 more sleeps~~~~~~~~~~~~stay tuna'd

Are you ready for some "Madness"?

The Merry Month of March brings us to College Basketball, one of our very favorite sports.

Now for some of you that don't know I am a UCLA Bruin fan big time. Fair warning I will bore you to tears with stats, results and such on the upcoming tournaments.

Don't know what to think of the Sports editor of our local paper picking UCLA to go all the way this year. I have faith however let's hope this guy is right. Cause nothing would make my family happier, well maybe a few other things would but the Bruins going all the way certainly would be at the top of the list.

So if you want March Madness updates I'll give em to ya, cause I have nothing else better to do than cheer on the Bruins.

Oh well maybe packing up some boxes for the move but that we can do while watching the games.........stay tuna'd..............9 more sleeps!!!

Somebody got the memo...

Do you spose Ford Motor Company sends memo's to the Sheiks over in the oil rich nations?

I can see it now ~~~Alert ~~~Mr & Mrs Doodles just bought one of our Big A** trucks, so if y'all wanna make more $$$ raise the price of that crude stuff.

Dang what a time to be gouging, it's not even summer yet. If you want to find fuel prices around the US and Canada check out GASBUDDY It seems they update this site quite often, so this may be my new favorite site in the months to come.

10 more sleeps..........stay tuna'd

Happy Birthday to me !!!

It's getting closer...

Finally we heard yesterday about the big A** truck to pull the fifth wheel trailer.

Seems the dear Ford Motor Company has had a dispute with the engine builders and they decided they weren't gonna pay them. Well the dispute got settled rather quickly much to my amazement and they are back to building these monsters in Louisville, KY

And yes that is the color we got Copper, F450 King Ranch with a moon roof for Buddy,

We are fortunate to have a dear friend who has a Car Store. That is the way dear friends refers to his business. Anyway, husband spoke to him yesterday and it appears that said truck, pictured below, will be here between first and mid April. Kinda what we had planned so there is no delay at the moment.

You notice I have posted 12 more sleeps, that means 12 more days and this house will belong to a very nice lady from CT and she is going to let us stay here till we take delivery on aforementioned truck and trailer. And I thought people from CT were a bit stanoffish. Well maybe they warm up when they get to warm weather cause this buyer is a dream.

12 more sleeps...stay tuna'd

So, the dopes in Washington could do the right thing

and give all of the Service men and women the same insurance coverage Dick Cheney has. That certainly be fair and equal treatment now wouldn't it. The big dope didn't even go to Walter Reed, they took him to Bethesda. What's up with that? Do these people think they are fooling us? Well they aren't, they are just big fat liars, all of them liars.

What can't I live without???

I must start thinking of things that I can put in our new 5th wheel home. This is somewhat of a predicament, that I am in. There are a lot worse things trust me I know that. But since we are going to be living in this "rig" for at least a year one does have to plan.

You see I am alloted X amount of weight. So there lies the problem do I take 6 pair of jeans and 6 pair of shoes? Or do I take 4 pair of jeans and and extra pan/skillet for cooking. Oh yep you bet I'm hiding the shoes - Norm will never, ever know. And don't you be telling him.

So what few items could you not live without. Knowing you are going to be traveling for about a year, with a variety of weather conditions

If y'all have any suggestions I'm open to listening and no lectures please about shoes K?

Right now I'm trying to write a farewell poem to Florida to be recited upon our departure.

Stay tuna'd...15 more sleeps

Well ~~~ we did it...

We are now the proud owners of a 5th wheel trailer. Now the truck should be here in the next 6 weeks and we will be nomads.
Rather looking forward to being free to roam.

A couple of snaps of the interior for your viewing pleasure.

You already know the TV will be replaced by a larger unit.

The cream colored leather chairs are good for us retired folk!

And the kitchen area is just big enough.

Under that TV is a computer station. So many comforts and we opted out of the fireplace.

More photos to follow...stay tuna'd

16 more sleeps!!!

A boo boo of sorts...

OK actualy a big hurt in my mouth. I woke up the other a.m. to an abscessed tooth. OH NO not again I say. I have things to do, boxes to pack, husband to supervise, IMPORTANT, VERY IMPORTANT things to do to get ready for the adventure.

Well the tooth gods had a different plan for me and set me straight, well not straight set my fat ass in bed and in substantial pain. Which I might add is unusual because I have an unusual high tolerance of pain.

Husband toddled me off to the dental dude and he took one look at my swollen face, which by the way looked like Mohammed Ali beat the crap outta me, and said yep abscess, here ya go antibiotics to get rid of the infection then we'll attack that problem once the infection is gone.

So here it is Saturday a.m. and we are somewhat back on track, my swelling has gone down some and I'm feeling like I could whip Ali. Well not really but you know what I mean ;)

Monday we are going up to pick out the interior of the 5th wheel trailer. Snaps to follow Sooooooooooo................stay tuna'd

20 more sleeps

Wonder no more...

I know some of you are wondering why the hell do those two whackos wanna get in a fifth wheel trailer pulled by a big ass (husbands words) truck***, haul that sucker around the good olde USA and Canada.

Well this could be one of the reasons LaNina the little meanie sister to El Nino and also the fact that our homeowners insurance has TRIPLED <<<(not a typo) yep tripled. I think there just might be some folks that are trying to put the stae of Florida out of business. There are just waaaaayy too many articles to refer to regarding homeowners insurance rate increases in the "blue tarp state".

Now you probably realize that this has a snowball affect. Your auto insurance goes up, if you are a renter, your rent is going to go up. That owner has to pass along the increase to someone. Also fewer people will come to visit this state so hence retail is going to increase in many ways, and don't even think about what it's going to cost to go to Disney World.

So I'm gonna go check the weather in AZ, 22 more sleeps stay tuna'd...

***big ass trucks = testosterone level ;)